Messages

1

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: When did you switch to all grain?

« on: May 15, 2013, 09:57:54 AM »

I did 3 extract with specialty grain batches before switching over. Honestly, I bought into the "all-grain is inherently better than extract" debate and blamed all my off-flavors and flaws on the extract. Needless to say, I paved the way for a rude awakening thinking brewing all-grain was going to fix all the issues  , but I am glad my ignorance pushed me to all-grain.

The biggest challenge for me was having the scratch to upgrade my equipment for all-grain brewing. Other than that, I was hoping to make my brew days longer and more involved...and sure enough they are! The mess is a little bigger, too 

Any prospective all-grain brewers who don't know where to start making the jump should check out the AHA's new Introduction to All-Grain Brewing video series based on Denny's cheap and easy batch sparge method. The homemade mash tun (directions in the videos) can be made on the cheap and that is one of the biggest expenses when upgrading!

Cheers!
Duncan

2

AHA Messages, Forum Rules & FAQs / 2013 National Homebrew Competition First Round Results

« on: May 01, 2013, 03:01:43 PM »

The 2013 National Homebrew Competition First Round results have been posted! http://bit.ly/13NHCfr

First round entrants can log in to their regional judging center's competition website to view scores in the "My Info and Entries" page.

Congratulations to those who advanced to the Final Round! Further information regarding Final Round submissions will be provided when available via the National Homebrew Competition page.

Thank you to everyone who entered, organized, judged, stewarded and volunteered during the First Round this year. The world's largest homebrew competition would not be possible without the passion and determination of the homebrew community.

Cheers!
Duncan

3

Events / Re: Big Brew (celebrated one week early)

« on: April 30, 2013, 12:51:34 PM »

Sounds like a helluva day!

4

Questions about the forum? / Re: Can't post or reply

« on: April 25, 2013, 02:00:48 PM »

As Denny mentioned, the issue is being attributed to a server update. The forum and HomebrewersAssociation.org log in should now be back to normal. Thanks for hanging in there!

Cheers,
Duncan

5

Questions about the forum? / Re: Can't post or reply

« on: April 25, 2013, 12:28:55 PM »

Test test test. Sibilance, sibilance.

The forum seems to be going in and out from what people have been saying. I am bringing this up with the tech folk to see what they have to say. Apologies for the PITA.

Cheers,
Duncan

edit: Completely closing out of my browser has helped a bit. Restarting the computer even more so. These obviously aren't ideal solutions (or solutions at all), but a temporary option for the meantime. I will report back when I hear from the web team.

edit2: The web team is in contact with the server person. Stay tuned.

6

All Grain Brewing / Introduction to All-Grain Brewing video series

« on: April 22, 2013, 08:26:17 AM »

Looking to get into all-grain brewing, but having trouble getting started? Let American Homebrewers Association Director Gary Glass walk you through the ins and outs of brewing with grains, and you will be a master of the mash in no time!

The series includes five short, easy to follow videos. Topics include:
-An Introduction to All-Grain Brewing
-How Malt Is Used
-Required Equipment
-How to build a mash tun
-How to conduct a Mash and Batch Sparge

All videos can be accessed here.

Make sure to share this resources with your homebrew clubs and friends!

Cheers!
Duncan

edit: For those who prefer youtube, here is a link to the playlist.

7

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast Starter Cells Created

« on: April 19, 2013, 08:05:22 AM »

I was reading the book Yeast just the other day, and they have a chart with different inoculation rates to show that starter growth is dependent on starter volume and yeast cells pitched (not just one or the other). A quart starter, which is roughly 1 liter, with 100 billion cells pitched will grow by roughly 50%, resulting in about 150 billion yeast cells.

The MrMalty calc is definitely a handy tool to use, too.

8

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 4/7 Edition

« on: April 05, 2013, 07:59:43 AM »

Racking a cyser that was fermented with saison yeast and pitching a wine yeast to finish it off. Making a few 1 gallon batches of mead. Brewing...something 

9

General Homebrew Discussion / Introducing the AHA Research & Education Fund (R&EF)

« on: April 04, 2013, 11:43:33 AM »

Many American Homebrewers Association (AHA) members and clubs already base activities and brew sessions around learning about various aspects of the brewing process—and the AHA wants to help you continue and improve your projects through the Research & Education Fund (R&EF).

Potential funding is now available for AHA members seeking to do research that can be shared with the AHA membership. This research could involve anything and everything including ingredients, temperature rests, fermentation characteristics or even how to build a better mousetrap.

AHA members should submit a Research & Education Fund Proposal to apply for assistance with their research. Members will be asked to identify their concept and provide a budget request.

Get the full details on the Research & Education Fund, including how to submit your proposal.

Cheers!
Duncan

10

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What is your favorite music to listen to while homebrewing?

« on: March 25, 2013, 02:30:00 PM »

The brutal-ist of metals, the crunchiest of hippy tunes....and fleetwood mac.

11

Ask the Experts / About Ask the Experts

« on: March 15, 2013, 03:26:44 PM »

Ask the Experts is an opportunity for American Homebrewers Association (AHA) members and registered AHA forum users to pose questions to reputable figures in the homebrewing and craft beer industries. Past sessions of Ask the Experts can be accessed from this forum board. Upcoming Ask the Expert sessions are planned to take place entirely on the forum, like with Mitch Steele. Stay tuned for information on future experts!

12

General Homebrew Discussion / MOVED: Ask the Experts: Mitch Steele on IPA

« on: March 15, 2013, 02:50:39 PM »

This topic has been moved to the Ask the Experts board.

13

Ask the Experts / Re: Ask the Experts: Denny Conn

« on: March 15, 2013, 11:29:07 AM »

Question:
I live in an apartment that is always above 70 degrees so I can not ferment properly. Are there any ways that I can properly ferment and keep a cooler temperature? Thanks

Denny:
There are a couple ways. The preferred method is to use a refrigerator or chest freezer with a temperature control to maintain fermentation temperature. The “Cheap’n’Easy” method, which I use, utilizes a tub or cooler full water that you set your fermenter in. You can add ice packs to cool things down, or put an aquarium heater in the water to warm it up if necessary. The mass of the water helps buffer thermal swings pretty effectively. It does take a bit more effort than a fridge or freezer, but it’s considerably less expensive.

14

Ask the Experts / Re: Ask the Experts: Denny Conn

« on: March 15, 2013, 11:28:05 AM »

Question:
After all the sterilization of everything that comes in contact with the brew, why are the dry hops (pellets) added straight from the package? Are they supposed to be sterile? Should they be boiled first? Thanks for any insight on this.

Denny:
There are several reasons. Hops have long been cited to have antibacterial properties, which helps protect the beer. In fact, it’s been said that hops were originally added to beer to help prevent spoilage. In addition, by the time you add dry hops to a beer it’s fermented. At that point, the alcohol content and low pH help protect the beer even further.

15

Ask the Experts / Re: Ask the Experts: Denny Conn

« on: March 15, 2013, 11:26:57 AM »

Question:
My two main questions in contemplating moving to batch sparging to save time over fly sparging are:

- when starting off with batch sparging, is there a general "guestimate" to an efficiency you can expect compared to your fly-sparging efficiency?

- when batch sparging, how quickly/slowly should you drain the wort from the mash/lauter tun into the kettle?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Denny:
You should probably figure on about the same efficiency as fly sparging. I’ve actually heard from people whose efficiency has improved when moving from fly sparging to batch sparging. That’s usually due to the fact that their lautering system was not designed for even wort flow in fly sparging. Because batch sparging drains sugar from the mash, as opposed to rinsing them out as in fly sparging, batch sparging removes lauter design as a factor. But in general, with a well designed batch sparge system (little to no dead space to leave wort behind) and proper techniques, there’s no reason for a batch sparge system to not be comparable to a fly sparge system in terms of efficiency. These days, after fine tuning my equipment and technique, I average about 85% efficiency for most batch sparged beers.

You can drain the wort as fast as your system will allow without a stuck runoff. Again, since fly sparging relies on rinsing the grain, you want to go slowly to make sure there is no channeling and that you rinse the grain effectively. When you batch sparge, you stir in the sparge water before runoff, which get the sugars into solution in the liquid. This allows you to simply drain them out. Although it will differ depending on your own system (and to some degree, recipe), for my system it takes me about 15 minutes from the time I start the mash runoff until the time I end the sparge runoff to collect about 7.5-8 gallonsof wort. That includesvorlaufing the mash runoff, getting it in the kettle, stirring in the sparge water, vorlaufing again, and running off the sparge.